Holographic imaging

Mapman said:

"How the DAC does its thing to produce the intended sound seems to be of more importance than the digital nature of the source."

I totally agree with this, but didn't think that it could be done for under $1000.

Running my $180 Oppo through my Playback Design MPS-5's DAC makes the Oppo sound better than an Emm, IMHO. Transports and sources are important, but the DAC is more important, IME.

Dave

"I totally agree with this, but didn't think that it could be done for under $1000."

I'm not sure how much it must cost to get a particular sound, but I would say with certainty that $1000 spent on a good DAC that you can feed somehow from any decent digital source will probably get you a good bit further than $1000 spent on a complete CD player.

Agreed, Mapman.

You think great DACs are realtively immune to the transport use? And if so, is that a recent development? Seems like a while back, the transport was viewed as being just as important. In a review of my Accustic Arts DAC, the reviewer found that whatever source he used with it seem to have little effect - he was sure the compoany did not want to hear as they sell a fairly expensive transport as well (that I happen to own). I always naively[?] felt thgat a good DAC should be able to deal with whatever jitter the source might present; maybe we are there.

Pubul57,

This is getting a bit off topic, but...

What jitter sounds like, if present, and whether it matters to an extent that is significant is a very nebulous thing still to me.

I think the only way to conclusively know how two different digital sources sound through a particular DAC and whether there is a difference that matters, is to compare and listen and share your findings.

Listen with a reference source first then another source for comparison and see if a difference can be detected.

So far, in my case both Denon player and Roku Soundbridge sound more alike than different running through the same DAC. Both sound way different and I think better as well to me now running through the tubed DAC than they did running through their own built in native DACS prior. Also prior, through each units own internal DAC, each sounded very different, particularly in regard to dynamics.